Achievements: Serving as student body President at Princeton University

Lifelong to do list: Beat Phil Keoghan in a foot race

What scares you most about traveling? Getting sick

What excites you most about traveling? New adventures and the unexpected

If I could switch places with someone: Shirley Tilghman (President of Princeton)

Role model/hero: Barack Obama

What are you passionate about? Show tunes.

What would you do if you won the million dollars? Withdraw the full amount in one-dollar bills, put it in a kiddie pool, jump in, jump out and take a shower (apparently money is really dirty).

People would be surprised to learn: Dalmatians are born without spots

Favorite place you have ever visited: Princeton, N.J.

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Staying in harmony (musically and competitively)

What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race (other then winning one million bucks)? An incredible experience and the chance for one last hurrah with Jonathan before we graduate and go off into the real world.

Pet peeve about your teammate: At times Jonathan can be overly concerned with getting in trouble and he's often afraid to break any sort of rules.

Jonathan Schwartz

Age: 22

Hometown: Cranford, N.J.

Connection to your Teammate: Best friend

Current occupation: Student

Favorite hobbies: Singing in our a cappella group, filmmaking and filling out surveys

Achievements: It's a three-way tie between getting into Princeton, being cast in a Broadway show and opening up that really tough jar of pickles in the back of my fridge.

Lifelong to do list: Make a lifelong to do list

What scares you most about traveling? The fact that other travelers are probably going to pass gas on airplanes without me hearing it

What excites you most about traveling? The opportunity for me to pass gas on airplanes without anyone hearing it

We've not had trained a capella singers on the Race before, which means they're able to sing on pitch without needing instruments. They're probably able to improvise lyrics and or tunes (maybe ones they've made up on their own in the past, and in that case, Connor and Jonathan would own the copyright under the US law.CBS can always get permissions if its something they think they want to use badly enough (see "Sweet Georgia Brown" in TAR 15), so I still think we're likely to hear tunes coming from Connor and Jonathan. Some of y'all may be thinking of the Big Brother prohibition, which is usually because they have no real way of preventing singing from going out on the live feeds, and that would entail ASCAP royalty fees. On edited shows like TAR, the editors have the option to select things to use, and obtaining permissions from the copyright holders for use on the shows. And to be fair Bruckheimer is very familiar with using song clips on his shows (see the CSI franchsie and Cold Case), so that may also be a factor in comparison to BB.

We've not had trained a capella singers on the Race before, which means they're able to sing on pitch without needing instruments. They're probably able to improvise lyrics and or tunes (maybe ones they've made up on their own in the past, and in that case, Connor and Jonathan would own the copyright under the US law.CBS can always get permissions if its something they think they want to use badly enough (see "Sweet Georgia Brown" in TAR 15), so I still think we're likely to hear tunes coming from Connor and Jonathan. Some of y'all may be thinking of the Big Brother prohibition, which is usually because they have no real way of preventing singing from going out on the live feeds, and that would entail ASCAP royalty fees. On edited shows like TAR, the editors have the option to select things to use, and obtaining permissions from the copyright holders for use on the shows. And to be fair Bruckheimer is very familiar with using song clips on his shows (see the CSI franchsie and Cold Case), so that may also be a factor in comparison to BB.

Apparently y'all are right and it is possible we may yet hear these two singing....

All you have to do is know some songs in the public domain...and then tweak the lyrics a bit, and all is good!!

Logged

"You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality." ~Walt Disney

As if to answer the question about whether we'll get to hear these two sing or not, the CBS TAR promo that aired during BB 12 tonight included a brief moment of these two singing in their glee club jackets and ties. Whether that's only for the meet the teams segment in the beginning of episode one or not remains to be seen, but then Carol's schnauzer was used that same way last season. We'll just have to wait and see if there's a preview clip of them in their Race-wear breaking out into song.

West Geauga graduate is in for 'Amazing Race'(by Sue Hoffman - September 22, 2010)

West Geauga High School's 2006 valedictorian and student-body president continued his path of success over the last four years, winning Princeton University's top Pyne Honor Prize for undergraduates before graduating in June.

Fresh out of college, Connor Diemand-Yauman, 22, of Chester, is in the cast of the CBS television reality show "The Amazing Race," which will make its season premiere from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Sept. 26. Mr. Diemand-Yauman and Princeton friend Jonathan Schwartz, of Cranford, N.J., form one of 11 new teams competing as racers.

The teams travel over 32,000 miles, covering four continents and 30 cities, with first-time visits to Bangladesh, Ghana and the Arctic Circle. For the first time in the history of the Race, the team to finish in first place during the premiere episode will be awarded a surprise, game-changing advantage. The Emmy Award-winning show, hosted by Phil Keoghan, has been aired since 2001. Filming for the new season took place this summer.

Mr. Connor Diemand-Yauman and Mr. Schwartz are both members of Princeton's oldest a cappella singing group, the Nassoons, which performs in the United States and abroad. Mr. Diemand-Yauman has been president and performance director of the ensemble, in addition to serving as class president three years and student body president during his career at Princeton.

Besides the Nassoons, Mr. Diemand-Yauman, a three-time winner of Geauga Lyric Theater guild's 'best lead actor" award while in high school, also appeared in Princeton drama productions and has written the book to an original musical.

However, Mr. Diemand-Yauman said Sunday, "My interest in theater had very little to do with my decision to apply for the race. Truth be told, when my friend Jonathan first asked if I wanted to audition with him, I had never seen the show. He approached me the night before the audition tapes were due, explained the premise of the show, and we wrote and filmed our audition tape that night.

"After sending in our audition tape, I thought it might be a good idea to watch a couple episodes to see what I was getting myself into. I was relieved to learn that the premise of 'The Amazing Race' is very unique and the show gives contestants a once-in-a-lifetime experience to travel the world and go on crazy adventures.

"I had a blast and I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to represent my two homes of Princeton and Ohio," he said.

News they were selected for the show came on his birthday, Mr. Diemand-Yauman said, "so it was a very fun and eventful day. The news was bittersweet, however, because we also learned that by accepting our spot in the cast, we were agreeing to miss our graduation ceremony at the end of the year."

Mr. Diemand-Yauman is the son of Beth Yauman, who has a Ph.D. in psychology, and Larry Diemand, a retired airport manager and a lieutenant-colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

The West Geauga alumnus' list of achievements continues to grow. He recently learned that his senior psychology thesis at Princeton, which involved a field study with students and teachers at West Geauga High School, is going to be published. The study tests a theory on learning and retention.

"I was so excited to involve the students and staff in my research and look forward to sharing my findings with the teachers in person," said Mr. Diemand-Yauman, who was scheduled to visit the school Wednesday.

His future career plans include television. "In early October, I'll travel to South Korea and begin my work with Korean PBS, writing and acting in television programming for Korean children who want to learn English. While in South Korea, I will also be teaching children in the classroom."

Mr. Diemand-Yauman had established a connection with Korea while at Princeton. As the university's mentor-manager of Batiq, he tutored by Web cam students from South Korea who were interested in attending universities in the United States. He also spent a summer in Seoul acting in and writing skits for Korean PBS.

"The world is his oyster," Sal Passafiume, Mr. Diemand-Yauman's eighth-grade science teacher at West Geauga Middle School, said about him. "He can do anything he wants to do. I couldn't be happier for all his success."

Beyond his achievements, Mr. Passafiume said Mr. Diemand-Yauman has a "big, positive personality, loves to laugh and have fun" and "is a caring individual."

This may have been asked or discussed in another thread but I have a question for the TAR historians. What other teams went from first in one leg to worst in the following leg and were eliminated? Offhand I recall Alison and Donny from Race 5 but I would think there were others. TYIA

Probably one of the saddest eliminations I can remember. Between them singing "Pomp and Circumstance" and tossing their hats in the air, it was a sad reminder that instead of celebrating their graduation with all their friends, they were being eliminated from the Amazing Race alone with Phil in one of the coldest places the race has ever gone. They were my favorite team going in. So shocking and sad to see them go. The race won't be quite as fun to watch without them, but at least I can still enjoy them on the Elimination Station videos for the rest of the season.

Logged

"I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven!""Alright... how 'bout Mug? Mug Costanza!"

Connor & Jonathan started the fourth leg of The Amazing Race in pole position but unfortunately ended it with a ticket home after finishing bottom at the pitstop in Sweden following a close race with Katie & Rachel. So where did it all go wrong? We caught up with the Ivy League a cappella singers to talk about the race, whether they have any regrets about skipping their graduation to travel the world and their plans for the future...

You were so close to securing another week at the end. What were you feeling on that drive to the pitstop?Jonathan: "We had a feeling that we were probably last but we had a slim chance that we thought they could have made a wrong turn driving to the pitstop or something like that, so we hadn't given up at that point. We had a feeling, but we were taking it in our stride and realizing how cool and ironic an ending it was for us to be kicked out of the race while we were graduating from college at the same moment; that was kind of cool."

Was it really as tight as it seemed at the end?Connor: "Yes, it was close. It was much closer than we thought it would be. After our fifth try on the sledding challenge we thought that it was over and the other teams had already arrived at the pitstop but when we drove up to the tent challenge and saw Chad & Stephanie and Katie & Rachel, we were so excited because we thought there was still a chance that something could happen. It was very close, but Katie & Rachel did have a slight lead on us. We were just happy we had any chance at all."

You started out this leg first and ended last. In your eyes, what went wrong for you on last night's episode?Connor: "It was a lot of different things; I don't think it was one single thing. The biggest game-changer was the flight, where the other teams arrived in Sweden two hours before us. Couple that with the sledding challenge and it was all downhill from there, no pun intended!"Jonathan: "I think you intended that one!"Connor: "Maybe a little bit!"

Do you think you'd ever have completed the sledding detour if you kept trying?!Jonathan: "I think we would have completed it if the wind was right. We did it five times - the first time we were eight seconds behind, the third time we were one second behind so it was just if I had pushed kind of further we would have got it. But, by that point, on the fifth try, I was in so much pain; the falls were really taking their toll and I was limping for about four days afterwards. I just couldn't go on at that point; I didn't want to do it because I was scared for my own health so it was a good time to switch. The combination of if we had switched after the third time, let's say, we still would have been in the race, or if we had finished a second earlier we would have been in the race. There are so many variables that are so close, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. It's just a race and there are so many things that can happen. But yes, I feel that in other conditions, if there was a slightly less fast course at the time; you never know and that's the race for you."Connor: "Jonathan was so close to making the time and what made it difficult for us was that he was really inconsistent in that he would miss it by eight seconds, then miss it by a minute, then miss it by one second and miss it by two minutes. We really couldn't determine if we should switch or stay on the course. It would have been better if Jonathan or I would have failed miserably right at the beginning and said, 'Screw this, let's do the tent challenge!' But Jonathan did so well that we always had that hope that he'd be able to make the time."

You seemed in pretty good spirits at the pitstop despite your elimination. Who came up with the exit song?!Jonathan: "We talked about that together. We always wanted to sing for Phil [Keoghan] so we were thinking of a song that would be appropriate and then it was the day that we were graduating so it seemed organically like the right thing to do. We were in very high spirits and thought it was a great opportunity to be in a wonderful mountainous area and have such a cool ending to the race. We were disappointed but it was such a happy experience to be there with Connor and have such a wonderful adventure."

You actually seemed in high spirits throughout the race with all your singing. Did you ever secretly argue behind the scenes?Connor: "Not once. We never argued or raised our voices and we even had people tell us that they'd never seen a team get along so well, which was a real compliment and testament to the strength of our friendship."Jonathan: "We completely understand why teams get mad at each other. In real life they seem nicer because this is the ultimate pressure cooker and you have so much stress and strain; you're not sleeping; you have overnight flights. I can understand why you would be at each other's throats but we never had a cross moment in the whole race which was great."

Did the race change your relationship in any way?Jonathan: "I think it strengthened it in that we realized we could go out on such an amazing adventure and something so tough and still be strong and not strain our relationship in any way. Plus I feel like we have an experience that no-one else can say they did, apart from 11 other teams in other seasons. It's something so special that nobody can take away from us."

So you have absolutely no regrets about missing your graduation?Connor: "No regrets. Like we said it would have been fun to celebrate the experience with our friends but everyone who goes to college, with a few exceptions, gets to graduate and attend their graduation. We got to experience something that very few people can and we felt so lucky to have had wonderful times at Princeton and then to have had this amazing experience as well; it was the perfect capstone to our friendship and time together. It was such a cool graduation ceremony for us to be there on the mat with Phil and the synchronicity of everything was really surprising; we were actually walking to the mat at the same time our friends were walking down the aisle. It was creepy how it worked out but it was a great celebration and one very few people will get to experience."

Did you celebrate when you got home?Connor: "We both did little things but I don't think either of us really felt the need after that; how do you top going on The Amazing Race and graduating on the mat with one another in Sweden?!"Jonathan: "And the diplomas were mailed to us so we're set with that!"

Did your fellow students give you any grief over the Ghana map challenge?!Jonathan: "No! (Laughs) I got a couple texts but you know, I just challenge them to go and try to run a race around the world and retain all your geographical knowledge of every continent. I mean, come on!"Connor: "They were much nicer than I thought they'd be. A lot of students at Princeton were telling us that African geography isn't common knowledge. Granted, we have friends who can name every country in the world, but we're not one of those people! We knew the general vicinity of Ghana if you look at the map - we knew it was in that corner - but we didn't know its exact location; we're not gonna beat ourselves up and we ended up getting first on that leg anyway! That eased the pain a little bit!"

What was your favorite destination?Jonathan: "I really liked Sweden, I thought it was gorgeous. Even though we knew we were last, just being on those ski-lifts and seeing how beautiful it was... I want to go back there absolutely if I can."Connor: "There was this moment when you saw us on the ski-lift up the mountain; that was probably my favorite moment of the entire race. For the whole race you are always running and under pressure, there is noise and cameras; it's a fast-paced and stressful experience. But for those three minutes it was silent and beautiful and we were completely alone. For the first time we really appreciated where we were and had time to look around and take everything in. Being on that chair-lift and having the beautiful mountains around us was my favorite moment."Jonathan: "Me too."

Now you have graduated what's next for you?Jonathan: "I'm rehearsing right now for a Broadway musical, Spider-Man."Connor: "I'm moving to South Korea to work with Korean PBS on children's educational media. I'm leaving in three days!"